The good way to call a private static method?

Question

This question could seem dumb but both ($this and self) works to call a static method.

However, what is the correct way?

I personally tend to use "self" because the private static method is like an utility function which doesn't use any object states.

$data = self::calcSoldeNextMonths('sl', $data, $toSub);
$data = $this->calcSoldeNextMonths('sl', $data, $toSub);

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/151969/when-to-use-self-vs-this. So self for static, this for non-static — Kakawait, Sep 20 '13 at 09:11
Is declaring private static methods make sense? I always use public static method :) — Adam, Sep 20 '13 at 09:13
@Adam yes it makes a sense to use `private` over `public` or `protected` — Shushant, Sep 20 '13 at 09:16

score 5 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

5

I, personally, would prefer self::, as it instantly tells me that I am dealing with a static method. It certainly wouldn't be much fun to dig around code where I would have to constantly look up the function declarations just to be sure what context this method operates in.

EDIT Please see @Kakawait's link in the first comment: When to use self vs this. Check out the second most upvoted answer for implications using self (namely the scope resolution).

edited May 23 '17 at 10:25

Community

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answered Sep 20 '13 at 09:14

aefxx

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I just find strange that no error/notice is displayed when $this is used to call a static method. – gaetanm Sep 20 '13 at 09:23
1

Well, just another PHP quirk to mess with the good people out there. – aefxx Sep 20 '13 at 09:30

Basti Funck · Answer 2 · 2013-09-20T09:27:21.813

1

Static methods should only be called with static:: or self::

self:: means the class and this-> means the current object. And by definition static methods are object independent class methods, i prefer to use self::

edited Sep 20 '13 at 09:27

answered Sep 20 '13 at 09:17

Basti Funck

1,400
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Not quite, there's also the `static::` keyword to consider from PHP version 5.3 and up. – aefxx Sep 20 '13 at 09:23
@aefxx `static` is used for late static bindings which can be used to reference the called class in a context of static inheritance please refer o http://php.net/manual/en/language.oop5.late-static-bindings.php‎ – Shushant Sep 20 '13 at 09:27
@Shushant The responder edited his answer. He first stated that: *"[...] the only correct way is **self::*"**. Which is not quite true, as I've merely pointed out. – aefxx Sep 20 '13 at 09:33

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 20 '13 at 09:58

here is simple example that differentiate self and static and simple way to remember different b/w both of them

self returns the base instance of base object (where self is called)

static returns the current instance of object (either object is extended).

class BaseClass {

public function make()
{
    echo __METHOD__, "\n";
}

public function println()
{
    static::make();
}
}

class BaseClass2{

public function make()
{
    echo __METHOD__, "\n";
}

public function println()
{
    self::make();
}
}

class StaticClass extends BaseClass{

public function make()
{
    echo __METHOD__;
}
}

 class selfMain extends BaseClass2{
public function make()
{
    echo __METHOD__;
}
 }
$obj = new StaticClass();
$obj->println();//return the current instance of object

$obj = new selfMain();
$obj->println();//return the best instance of object

Thanks for this detailed answer but I know what is the difference between `$this` and `self`. This is not the question. — gaetanm, Sep 20 '13 at 10:04

The good way to call a private static method?

3 Answers3